CareCore drives business tax debate

Spurred by concerns raised by CareCore National about Bluffton's business tax rate, Town Manager Anthony Barrett is recommending a new incentive program aimed at keeping and attracting jobs.The move, which goes to the Town Council for a preliminary vote Tuesday, would set a tax cap at $25 million in gross revenue for CareCore, a health care benefits management company with 450 employees in Bluffton, and all other companies in town.At a Wednesday meeting of the Lowcountry Economic Network, CareCore CEO Don Ryan threatened to put new jobs at CareCore's Colorado Springs, Colo., office, instead of Bluffton - as planned with an expansion - without a business tax change.Colorado Springs does not charge a business license tax.In addition to the across-the-board cap, Barrett is proposing a business license incentive program for qualifying businesses that create and sustain jobs. It would encourage corporate headquarters, research and development and high technology growth businesses to locate in town by giving them business tax cuts.At CareCore's tax category rate of $2 per $1,000 in gross revenue, its business taxes on $25 million in gross revenue would be capped at $50,000.Barrett said Friday that CareCore wanted to cap taxable gross revenue at $10 million. The tax on that amount would be $20,000.CareCore spokesman Chris Long, asked if the proposal was acceptable after it was released Friday as part of the council agenda, said: "CareCore National is reviewing the proposed changes to the business license tax and appreciates the efforts of the town of Bluffton in addressing the issue."Our hope is that the cap and abatement policy will be set at a level that encourages current and future economic growth. We are committed to working with the Town Council to promote economic growth and job creation," said Long, CareCore executive vice president, public affairs."We will provide further comments at or after the council meeting on Tuesday."On Thursday, Long said, "We have requested that the town include a firm cap on the fee charged on gross income. The capped amount must be determined by Town Council, but the Lowcountry Economic Network has suggested several options from around the state."CareCore opened its Bluffton office in September 2007 in a 48,000-square-foot building it built in Bluffton's tech park on Buckwalter Parkway after winning town property tax reduction and other incentives. It has moved management here from Wappingers Falls, N.Y., and is building a second building next door for an expansion. Long said CareCore now has 500 employees in South Carolina and 450 working out of the Bluffton office. It has 340 employees in Colorado Springs.In relation to the business tax debate, "Any possible employee changes would be for newly created positions to meet our business growth needs," Long said Thursday. "These would be 120 positions that have not been filled in Bluffton or Colorado Springs, but are anticipated to be created within the year given our current business growth."Long said the new building construction is progressing well and completion is expected by late October.At the present business tax rate, with anticipated growth, "the company will be paying more than $120,000 in business license fees in the future," he said. In Barrett's proposed incentive program, qualifying new businesses would get business license fees cut by 100 percent in their first year, 60 percent their second year and 33 percent their third year.The proposal is in line with economic development goals set at the council's strategic planning retreat in January."I'm reasonably sure we will come up with a resolution for knowledge-based businesses. That's what we're really interested in," Barrett said. "CareCore has just really brought it to the forefront."Barrett said his administration began fashioning the plan after he, Mayor Lisa Sulka and Mayor Pro Tem Fred Hamilton Jr. met with Ryan at CareCore on May 6.Since then, "we've been working diligently" on the incentive plan, he said. "We're delighted to have CareCore here. We hope they expand their business, and we hope what we're doing helps resolve the company's concerns," he said.He added that, "this is a staff proposal to council. I propose. Council disposes."He said council was obviously aware of the work. A lot of energy and resources were spent by the town recruiting CareCore, and "we want to keep them here."Barrett is a board member of the Lowcountry Economic Network, a public-private economic development association, and said he was surprised Ryan raised the jobs and tax issue at its past two monthly meetings. Ryan also sits on the board, according to the network's website, www.lowcountrynet.orgCareCore is one of Bluffton's top-two employers. A recent town tally listed the Beaufort County School District as the top employer with 452 employees and Hargray Communications at 300.Barrett said the fee on all businesses "is one of the few taxes we have" and it will produce about $1.2 million of the current $10.4 million town budget. "I want to protect the revenue source," he said. The business license revenue of $1.2 million equals the amount of money raised by 10 mills of property taxes. The town's tax rate is 38 mills, which raises $304 on an owner-occupied house valued at $200,000.Under the current business fee system, "the more money you make, the more you pay," he said.Barrett said his message for the current town budget included a goal to become less reliant on grants and business taxes.He said the proposed business tax revision would not reduce current town business tax revenues. "This keeps the status quo, and until we figure out where we're going, the revenue's important to us."The council has a busy agenda for its 6 p.m. Tuesday meeting at Town Hall, 20 Bridge St. It is posted online at www.townofbluffton.sc.gov, with links to pull up the proposed business license revision in full and other items.

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To attract new business Bluffton needs to get serious. Attracting new business to Bluffton begins with a benchmark study of the existing business climate. We need a commercial inventory summary that will make it easy to analyze our business mix and identify what's "missing" from the community. At a glance it will be easy to see how many shops, restaurants, banks, salons and service uses we have and how many available properties there are. This needs to be done yearly. Develop a unified, transparent, and efficient process for permitting. Market and emphasize our quality of life, population diversity, infrastructure, and a culture of creativity (just point them to this blog - HA).. With communication technology blurring geographic borders, entrepreneurs in search of the proverbial good life are building companies where they want to live, as much as where they think they should work. So Bluffton, make them "want to live here." The widest, broadest mix of choice in housing, neighborhoods, shopping, and the widest range in cultural and entertainment offerings, leisure, and recreation is what makes a place a desirable one to start a business. So Mr. Barrett have you written down your list of why companies should come here and what Bluffton is doing to remove any political, economic or logistical road blocks?

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